Shanti volunteer Van driver and Crossings client Victor Derbyshire stands with his transportation van, 1993. Photographer Unknown, Courtesy of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Historical Society.
One of the most dynamic aspects of the practical support services that began in the 1980s was Shanti’s van transportation program. When the Practical Support Program officially began in 1983, program director Randy Chelsey saw that the most requested service was transportation to medical appointments. “Since many of our volunteers worked during the day, it was a task we were rarely able to provide…We heard harrowing stories of people with AIDS, who after receiving intense medical treatments, had to transfer to two or three buses.” After writing a grant, Shanti soon was able to purchase a van and hire its first driver, Daniel Brewer, who had also been a Shanti emotional support volunteer. By 1987, Shanti had expanded its van services and converted one van to make it wheelchair accessible to provide rides to people they could not have otherwise assisted.
